Lucid dreaming

[Chronus]

16 minutes ago, Timothy said:

Yes, but it’s easier when you’ve been asleep and wake during the night. 
Don’t turn on any lights, don’t check your phone. 
Just try to Imagine the most intricate details of the dream you just came out of.

Ok I will try to remember

 

[simplybill]

5 hours ago, Mr Walker said:

Sorry bill; but i have to disagree with you here 

ive lucid dreamed every night for almost 70 years I actually can construct and control my dreams at will 

Often its purely entertainment but it can also be used to learn/practice new skills, to problem solve, and to try out different life strategies before applying them in real life 

The examples you use of controlled lucid dreaming  are good positive ones and i am surprised you thus see it as a negative practice.

Ie it can be used as a positive psychological process to resolve issues in real life. 

For entertainment, dreaming is like videos, books, imagination, games etc The difference is that you are in control You write the script, you design the characters and you maintain the degree of control you want 

Unless you find ALL forms of escapist entertainment bad, then dreaming is a cheap, safe, and productive, form, where you are in control 

My mental health comment may have been too harsh, though it worries me that people might disrupt the natural flow of our sleeping, uninhibited, sub-conscious mind that informs us of problems in our real, wakeful life. In other words, if I take control of my dreams, then my conscious mind might put an end to the uninhibited flow of messages that are giving me a different perspective that my conscious mind has overlooked.

Snakes, for example. In the past, most of my nightmares were about snakes. In real life, seeing snakes slithering through the grass would startle me and get my heart pounding. In my nightmares, my bed would be full of snakes, or I’d be walking across a yard that was almost completely covered in snakes.

When I bought my acreage, I spent a lot a lot of time cleaning up the piles of debris that had accumulated over the last century. I’d uncover snakes that were hiding beneath piles of boards or old linoleum flooring. It was disturbing. I realized that if I was going to live here I’d have to overcome those fears, so I began catching non-venomous snakes with my hands. I’d let them wrap themselves around my arm, and I’d hold them up close to my face. I did that until I lost my irrational fear of snakes.

The next time I started having a snake nightmare, I thought to myself (within the dream), “Wait a minute. I’m not afraid of snakes anymore.” The dream snakes just sort of faded away. I don’t have snake nightmares anymore.

At the other end of the dream spectrum, I used to have an amazing recurring ‘prophetic’ dream that ended after I bought my acreage. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into it here, but to make a long story short: I’m literally living in ‘the house of my dreams’.

@Chronus This is an interesting thread. Keep up the good work.

[Chronus]

3 minutes ago, simplybill said:

My mental health comment may have been too harsh, though it worries me that people might disrupt the natural flow of our sleeping, uninhibited, sub-conscious mind that informs us of problems in our real, wakeful life. In other words, if I take control of my dreams, then my conscious mind might put an end to the uninhibited flow of messages that are giving me a different perspective that my conscious mind has overlooked.

Snakes, for example. In the past, most of my nightmares were about snakes. In real life, seeing snakes slithering through the grass would startle me and get my heart pounding. In my nightmares, my bed would be full of snakes, or I’d be walking across a yard that was almost completely covered in snakes.

When I bought my acreage, I spent a lot a lot of time cleaning up the piles of debris that had accumulated over the last century. I’d uncover snakes that were hiding beneath piles of boards or old linoleum flooring. It was disturbing. I realized that if I was going to live here I’d have to overcome those fears, so I began catching non-venomous snakes with my hands. I’d let them wrap themselves around my arm, and I’d hold them up close to my face. I did that until I lost my irrational fear of snakes.

The next time I started having a snake nightmare, I thought to myself (within the dream), “Wait a minute. I’m not afraid of snakes anymore.” The dream snakes just sort of faded away. I don’t have snake nightmares anymore.

At the other end of the dream spectrum, I used to have an amazing recurring ‘prophetic’ dream that ended after I bought my acreage. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into it here, but to make a long story short: I’m literally living in ‘the house of my dreams’.

@Chronus This is an interesting thread. Keep up the good work.

Finally a nice thread.

[Mr Walker]

12 hours ago, Chronus said:

Any tips on how I can control my dreams?

Because i learned this as a child, I am not as helpful as some web sites.

The first step is to gain lucidity and be able to maintain it

My biggest two tips are simple 

get a lot more sleep than you really need so tha t you   sleep lightly and are almost half awake.

  Second, make dreaming part of your waking life.  Talk about your dreams or write about them on a forum. Record them talk to yourself about them, try to remember them in detail.

Part of this is something you will read about on most websites.

As soon as you wake up, first record your dream second try to expand out fragments of any dream until you can remember all or most of it (you can reverse the order if it helps you)

Dont start thinking about the waking day until you have processed your dreams 

 One last thing  which might help 

Look at the nature of the subconscious and psychology We build dreams as symbolic interpretations of our conscious life.

  Once you can make connections about  what you are dreaming and why,  you can get more control 

Basically once you can sustain lucidity, you just take control of a dream; shaping and directing the characters and plot in any way your imagination wants  

 

[Mr Walker]

On 8/29/2020 at 10:07 AM, Chronus said:

On the topic of lucid dreaming, I've heard you shouldn't look in mirrors. Do you guys have stories of that?

There are a lot of stories about dreams which may reflect one person's experience, but not another's. Apparently we aren't supposed to be able to read or write in a dream but, maybe because of 40 years as a teacher, I am often reading and writing as part of dreams about schools and classrooms 

As a child i used mirrors in a dream as a portal to another dream world (I also used many other things for the same purpose) 

[Mr Walker]

On 8/30/2020 at 11:17 AM, Emma_Acid said:

Just as in you wake up and you feel like you haven't slept at all

Thats interesting I agree that it works best when you are light sleeping but my dreams invigorate me. i wake up enthused because its like going o na holiday to an exotic location every night, or living a life from a novel/tv show

[Mr Walker]

11 hours ago, Chronus said:

Well I sleep in a room with 2 other brothers. And if I set alarm they'll be mad so can't do that.

you can develop the ability to wake up at a set time, using your body's (minds) own sense of time It does take a bit of effort and discipline to learn  but is very useful.

As a child /teenager i slept in an 10 by 8 foot room with my younger brother  who had quite severe asthma.

There was about 2 feet between our beds So i couldn't use an alarm clock and had to learn how to set a time to wake up. You can time it down to a minute or so of accuracy. 

[Chronus]

20 minutes ago, Mr Walker said:

you can develop the ability to wake up at a set time, using your body's (minds) own sense of time It does take a bit of effort and discipline to learn  but is very useful.

As a child /teenager i slept in an 10 by 8 foot room with my younger brother  who had quite severe asthma.

There was about 2 feet between our beds So i couldn't use an alarm clock and had to learn how to set a time to wake up. You can time it down to a minute or so of accuracy. 

Well I mean during summer break I kept waking up between 8:00-8:40, 

is that what you mean?

 

[Mr Walker]

9 hours ago, simplybill said:

My mental health comment may have been too harsh, though it worries me that people might disrupt the natural flow of our sleeping, uninhibited, sub-conscious mind that informs us of problems in our real, wakeful life. In other words, if I take control of my dreams, then my conscious mind might put an end to the uninhibited flow of messages that are giving me a different perspective that my conscious mind has overlooked.

Snakes, for example. In the past, most of my nightmares were about snakes. In real life, seeing snakes slithering through the grass would startle me and get my heart pounding. In my nightmares, my bed would be full of snakes, or I’d be walking across a yard that was almost completely covered in snakes.

When I bought my acreage, I spent a lot a lot of time cleaning up the piles of debris that had accumulated over the last century. I’d uncover snakes that were hiding beneath piles of boards or old linoleum flooring. It was disturbing. I realized that if I was going to live here I’d have to overcome those fears, so I began catching non-venomous snakes with my hands. I’d let them wrap themselves around my arm, and I’d hold them up close to my face. I did that until I lost my irrational fear of snakes.

The next time I started having a snake nightmare, I thought to myself (within the dream), “Wait a minute. I’m not afraid of snakes anymore.” The dream snakes just sort of faded away. I don’t have snake nightmares anymore.

At the other end of the dream spectrum, I used to have an amazing recurring ‘prophetic’ dream that ended after I bought my acreage. It’s a long story, so I won’t go into it here, but to make a long story short: I’m literally living in ‘the house of my dreams’.

@Chronus This is an interesting thread. Keep up the good work.

Yep this is one of the best threads ive seen for a while 

Itake your point about using the dreams 

I guess i just took that as natural but a first step.

Once you  have identified the subconscious elements/ symbols in your dream you can take charge  and manipulate them or eliminate the negative ones.

  In this way you can prevent unpleasant dreams but also alter your CONSCIOUS perspective and feel better in waking life Ill give youan example 

When I as 12 or so i had almost  half a year of a recurring dream.

I was walking down a winding narrow path in a forest so dense you couldn't leave the path  I  came to a fork in the path .In the fork was a big solitary tree. in the tree was a giant wolf Every night the wolf would jump down and try to bite my head off, causing me to wake up 

After a few moths of this i got annoyed 

I went into the dream carrying a  shot gun.

i entered the path from  the other  direction and came up behind the wolf.

I called out to him something  like " hi mr wolf. Its me " and as he turned i blew him away with the shot gun 

After dozens of identical dreams i never had it again,

Then i started to analyse the symbology 

I realised that the narrow enclosed path repesented ny childhood which ws bound by rules and lack of adult freedoms  They constituted the dense forest around me Something was beyond it but  I  couldnt access it 

I realised that next year i was entering high school, and was subconsciously afraid  of this, even though consciously i was looking forward to it 

I realised the fork represented choices and alternatives which were becoming available to me as i became older.

  Finally i raised that the wolf was a subconscious manifestation of fear (my fear)  and that it was the only thing actually preventng me making choices and moving forward

In destroying it in my dream i also destroyed any fear of moving on or going to high school.

Rather than be stuck a t a point where i could see choices but was held back by fear, i conquered the fear in both the dream and real life.

[Mr Walker]

7 minutes ago, Chronus said:

Well I mean during summer break I kept waking up between 8:00-8:40, 

is that what you mean?

 

yeah basically You can teach your body to wake up at  set time, even as specific as 8.01 am

[Chronus]

11 minutes ago, Mr Walker said:

Yep this is one of the best threads ive seen for a while 

Itake your point about using the dreams 

I guess i just took that as natural but a first step.

Once you  have identified the subconscious elements/ symbols in your dream you can take charge  and manipulate them or eliminate the negative ones.

  In this way you can prevent unpleasant dreams but also alter your CONSCIOUS perspective and feel better in waking life Ill give youan example 

When I as 12 or so i had almost  half a year of a recurring dream.

I was walking down a winding narrow path in a forest so dense you couldn't leave the path  I  came to a fork in the path .In the fork was a big solitary tree. in the tree was a giant wolf Every night the wolf would jump down and try to bite my head off, causing me to wake up 

After a few moths of this i got annoyed 

I went into the dream carrying a  shot gun.

i entered the path from  the other  direction and came up behind the wolf.

I called out to him something  like " hi mr wolf. Its me " and as he turned i blew him away with the shot gun 

After dozens of identical dreams i never had it again,

Then i started to analyse the symbology 

I realised that the narrow enclosed path repesented ny childhood which ws bound by rules and lack of adult freedoms  They constituted the dense forest around me Something was beyond it but  I  couldnt access it 

I realised that next year i was entering high school, and was subconsciously afraid  of this, even though consciously i was looking forward to it 

I realised the fork represented choices and alternatives which were becoming available to me as i became older.

  Finally i raised that the wolf was a subconscious manifestation of fear (my fear)  and that it was the only thing actually preventng me making choices and moving forward

In destroying it in my dream i also destroyed any fear of moving on or going to high school.

Rather than be stuck a t a point where i could see choices but was held back by fear, i conquered the fear in both the dream and real life.

....

 

That's deep...

[Chronus]

13 minutes ago, Mr Walker said:

yeah basically You can teach your body to wake up at  set time, even as specific as 8.01 am

I don't think I was able to control it, I think I thought my body just had enough sleep. I don't know 100%.

[Mr Walker]

Just now, Chronus said:

....

 

That's deep...

Especial for  a 12 year old,    but then id been working on dreams since i was about 4 years old and first became aware of dreams as another  mental world.

I could fly from  almost my first dreams as a preschooler   and i was lucid dreaming and extending my consciousness form first memories  ie as a young child i would send out my consciousness around the house, flying up to the ceiling and looking down from there.   I knew it  they were  dreams

My parents tried to catch me and put me back to bed, but they could only reach me if i had to go down to get  through a doorway.   

[Mr Walker]

1 minute ago, Chronus said:

I don't think I was able to control it, I think I thought my body just had enough sleep. I don't know 100%.

Holidays are good time to experiment with this, and other dream practices 

[Chronus]

11 minutes ago, Mr Walker said:

Especial for  a 12 year old,    but then id been working on dreams since i was about 4 years old and first became aware of dreams as another  mental world.

I could fly from  almost my first dreams as a preschooler   and i was lucid dreaming and extending my consciousness form first memories  ie as a young child i would send out my consciousness around the house, flying up to the ceiling and looking down from there.   I knew it  they were  dreams

My parents tried to catch me and put me back to bed, but they could only reach me if i had to go down to get  through a doorway.   

Ever since I can remember I have never been able to control my dreams. Like-wise, I never really knew I was dreaming,

well its hard to explain.

Do you get those dreams (not sure if you have them anymore since you can change the dreams now possibly) where something is happening, like you had the dream before, and there's this feeling in the back of your mind that something's up, like this isn't real, but not a very strong feeling?

I don't know it was never like "Oh yea this is a dream, I'm fine"

it was just a weird feeling, that-

I don't know how to explain  it.

[Mr Walker]

7 hours ago, Chronus said:

Ever since I can remember I have never been able to control my dreams. Like-wise, I never really knew I was dreaming,

well its hard to explain.

Do you get those dreams (not sure if you have them anymore since you can change the dreams now possibly) where something is happening, like you had the dream before, and there's this feeling in the back of your mind that something's up, like this isn't real, but not a very strong feeling?

I don't know it was never like "Oh yea this is a dream, I'm fine"

it was just a weird feeling, that-

I don't know how to explain  it.

yep It can become more than a feelng Indeed that is why it is important to develop reality and context checkers.

I often have dreams which relate to dreams fro m the past (recent or decades ago)  I also have memories of people and events  which come from  dreams and not real life That is why i  developed reality and context checkers to organise and divide my memories s between those from  waking life and those from  dreaming life 

Your description here is a part of this.

In one dream you may have a memory of,  and make a connection to, an earlier dream For me its simple to know when I am dreaming by using simple reality checkers  

 

[Mr Walker]

On 9/3/2020 at 6:27 PM, Mr Walker said:

yep It can become more than a feelng Indeed that is why it is important to develop reality and context checkers.

I often have dreams which relate to dreams fro m the past (recent or decades ago)  I also have memories of people and events  which come from  dreams and not real life That is why i  developed reality and context checkers to organise and divide my memories s between those from  waking life and those from  dreaming life 

Your description here is a part of this.

In one dream you may have a memory of,  and make a connection to, an earlier dream For me its simple to know when I am dreaming by using simple reality checkers  

 

Is that a chuckle of disbelief  8 bits?  

Why?  Ive spoken many times of my history with lucid dreaming, then controlled lucid dreaming, gong back to my  early  childhood.

ive spoken about the "reality"  of my dreams, and how and why i evolved techniques, which i used every day and every night, to establish my mental state.

The y also were a great help in developing lucid and controlled dreaming skills.  The y also greatly helped me know, and accurately perceive, my waking state of mind and environment eg The y heightened my state of awareness and mindfulness every moment while l was awake,  as well as when i was asleep. 

[Chronus]

To lucid dream, I've heard you need to do stuff revolved around it to put it in your subconscious. I've also heard while your going to bed to say stuff in your head like "I will lucid dream tonight" or "I will remember my dream" or "I will know I am dreaming"

 

Do you think it would work the same if I made like target to make me lucid in a dream. Like do you think it'd work if going to sleep I can say in my head stuff like "if I see this I will become lucid" and stuff like that?

[Mr Walker]

19 hours ago, Chronus said:

To lucid dream, I've heard you need to do stuff revolved around it to put it in your subconscious. I've also heard while your going to bed to say stuff in your head like "I will lucid dream tonight" or "I will remember my dream" or "I will know I am dreaming"

 

Do you think it would work the same if I made like target to make me lucid in a dream. Like do you think it'd work if going to sleep I can say in my head stuff like "if I see this I will become lucid" and stuff like that?

That does work Eg you can use a specific reality checker.

Two of mine are flying and walking through walls.

If i try this and succeed, i know i am  dreaming, and can then take control of it 

Ps only use "ground take off" in case you are awake, and dont rush the wall for the same reason   

I no longer have to do this, as I always know i am dreaming, but as a young person i used this technique a lot. 

[Chronus]

5 hours ago, Mr Walker said:

That does work Eg you can use a specific reality checker.

Two of mine are flying and walking through walls.

If i try this and succeed, i know i am  dreaming, and can then take control of it 

Ps only use "ground take off" in case you are awake, and dont rush the wall for the same reason   

I no longer have to do this, as I always know i am dreaming, but as a young person i used this technique a lot. 

Thanks

[quiXilver]

Also a good dream check is to look for clocks, watches.

The clocks show random ever changing numbers, or sometimes are not numeric at all but other symbols entirely.

 

another check is to try using light switches... they often have no effect, or an entirely different effect in dreams.

[Chronus]

7 minutes ago, quiXilver said:

Also a good dream check is to look for clocks, watches.

The clocks show random ever changing numbers, or sometimes are not numeric at all but other symbols entirely.

 

another check is to try using light switches... they often have no effect, or an entirely different effect in dreams.

I know that since I made the first post I have lucid dreamt yet, but I feel like I have remembered more dreams now, not whole dreams but more then I usually have.

[Mr Walker]

On 9/13/2020 at 6:44 AM, Chronus said:

I know that since I made the first post I have lucid dreamt yet, but I feel like I have remembered more dreams now, not whole dreams but more then I usually have.

just talking about your dreams is one of the best ways to remember more of them, (both quantity and quality )  and to help you become lucid. 

[Horta]

On 9/11/2020 at 10:52 PM, Chronus said:

To lucid dream, I've heard you need to do stuff revolved around it to put it in your subconscious. I've also heard while your going to bed to say stuff in your head like "I will lucid dream tonight" or "I will remember my dream" or "I will know I am dreaming"

 

Do you think it would work the same if I made like target to make me lucid in a dream. Like do you think it'd work if going to sleep I can say in my head stuff like "if I see this I will become lucid" and stuff like that?

The easiest way is to try to be aware of what is happening through the day (basically fight against the autopilot mode we usually drift into) and to also regularly and genuinely question whether you are dreaming or not throughout your normal day. Especially of you notice anything weird. This practice will eventually carry over into your dreams. People have had all sorts of weird things happen in dreams such as seeing "wake up" written in the sky, or (dream) people asking you if you are "awake" and all manner of other queues that help. There are plenty of methods to check this throughout your day, you might find the "see if you can fly" method not very practical and there are easier ways to check.

It's good to work towards remembering dreams also (a dream diary for instance). The most helpful tip to do this is to train yourself not to move when you wake. Just lay still and let the dream memories arrive. You can still remember them to an extent if you don't, but after you start moving around it is generally more difficult.

[sarah_444]

I just want to repeat what others have said about important it is to start recording your dreams somehow. Whether is in a notebook, an app, or a scrap of paper. Take the time to record any and every detail including your emotions you felt. This is so important when you are starting, even if your recall is already decent.  

Doing this helps train your mind to go deeper, and remember more and more...because what's the point of a lucid dream if it's forgotten after you wake up? 

Also, immerse your waking life with information regarding subject. Just read and learn as often as you can. There are great threads here, and people amazing experiences. One of the reasons I keep coming back.

Edited September 23, 2020 by .saraharas.
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